Meghan Theiss tied for the low round on Sunday at the Landfall Tradition with 69. (Matt Born/StarNews)

Cindy Ho spent nearly an hour with the UNCW women’s golf team after Friday’s opening round at the Landfall Tradition. The coach’s mostly positive session on the first tee box at Country Club of Landfall’s Dye Course offered much needed time to regroup, relax and decompress for a young squad in an unfamiliar spotlight.

The speech particularly hit home for junior Meghan Theiss after a forgettable opening round in her debut in the event. The 78 she carded didn’t just put her far off the pace on a day when scoring conditions were manageable. The mistakes that put her there didn’t feel true to her game, either.

That lackluster start made Sunday’s round even more encouraging for Theiss. With her parents following along, the Louisville transfer tied the low round of the day with 69. She made six birdies and three bogeys in the round, her best as a member of the Seahawks.

“I just needed to refocus a little bit,” Theiss said afterward. “I tried to make a conscious effort of keeping my focus on the right things and just taking it one shot at a time and focusing on every moment.”

Ho believes Theiss has the tools to score low, but her short game has prevented her from consistently threatening red figures. Her iron game helped Sunday. She had three straight birdies on holes seven through nine that all finished on putts of six feet or less. That included a tap-in at nine after she striped an 8-iron close.

Theiss broke par for the first time in competition at UNCW last month at UNC-Greensboro. She was even better Sunday, holding the round together after her birdie binge on a day when the wind gave many players problems.

The round tied Alabama’s Lakareber Abe for best in a field packed with nationally ranked players. (Her score also equaled the one Kayla Thompson shot on Saturday for low UNCW round of the event.)

“There’s been glimpses,” Ho said. “She has the firepower. She has the length. Today (she) was just making some putts.”

Theiss backed up her 78 with 74 and 69 to finish tied for 32nd, tops on the team. The Seahawks fell to the bottom of the standings on the opening day but managed to climb past Penn State and Michigan State to claim 16th out of 18.

It’s more progress for a player still building college experience. She played in nine tournaments at Louisville over a season and a half before joining the Seahawks in the last spring semester. She earned a starting spot for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, and Ho is counting on her to consistently be at the top of the lineup now.

Theiss will have to wait awhile for next chance to build on that effort. The Seahawks are finished with the fall and won’t tee it up in competition again until the Notre Dame-hosted Clover Cup starts in Mesa, Arizona, on March, 13, 2015.

“Any time you can shoot in the 60s it’s a good time (and) a lot of fun,” Theiss said. “It was a fall season that was good at times and bad at times, but finishing it on a high note was great.”

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